Now upon completing final Artwork 1; Shadow Imagery/Photography and final Artwork 2; Clay Sculpture, it can be reflected upon the challenges, improvements, and final show of the artwork. The focus of the folio was romance, as stated in Unit 3 through the Exploration Proposal. The direction that the work has taken towards romance and nevertheless focusing on romance and how it is portrayed; through connection and the intimate touch between two people and therefore helps us to see how touch can connect two people together. The design process reflects how two people can physically be fit for each other, for example two people kissing their lips lock into each other’s perfectly because they are meant to be for each other. As discussed earlier the focus of my work in Unit 3 was the figure of romance and how it is represented in people and couples, focusing especially on the love between a man and a woman. I refined my ideas in Unit 4 by focusing on specifically on the special and exclusive connection between two people in love. This has then led me to explore the idea of intimacy and touch within the broader idea of connection and how it is portrayed.

 Although I began thinking about the idea of romance and how it is seen in two people, my work has evolved to include how it can be seen by couples subjective to their own relationships. This meaning that one relationship may show their love through kissing, and another may show it through smiling or may show it through hugging or intimate touch. My directions have not changed significantly, however focuses more on the show of connection and how its seen in love.

 I decided to choose these potential directions because I believe that they would be the best choice in order to truly capture the essence and nature of intimacy and love, clay you can use different shapes and come up with new shapes through moulding the clay whereas you cannot get those new and surprise shapes when drawing and painting. However, it is also harder to shape clay to make the artwork look realistic so I decided to go for a more “fairy-tale” look in my final artwork for creation 2 since it was difficult to make it look so realistic also coming into play I am not a professional in clay so it was hard sometimes to handle the material as it was a matter of trial and error, seeing what worked and what didn’t. I choose potential direction of using shadow imagery and photography, something different and not seen before I wanted to experiment with using wire and moulding it into geometric and abstract shapes in order to give that “facial” effect, showing human faces. However, the view is a side profile view of the faces. As opposed to potential directions of the photo collage where I didn’t pick this one because I thought that the whole idea is too “flooded” and just overall crowded therefore I wanted something more meaningful and realistic. The saying goes “less is more” and I wanted my outcome of my artworks to be a centre spot, but it speaks a million words.

 I selected potential direction 1 – shadow imagery as I felt that it communicated my ideas of connection the best and this is because of my idea to show 2 people kissing and shows the raw moment of intimacy. I began by taking trial photos of a geranium flower I found in the pots of the flowers around my house and used it along with a light source at night to get some nice, precise shadows of the flower and create a starting base for my artwork, from there the image looked half done but it needed the most important element of romance, this is why I added in the side profile of the two faces kissing. I also changed the composition slightly so that there was an added copyright free “old money” aesthetic gold frame that framed the whole piece since the photo looked so empty with what it had. I also selected potential direction 2 of clay sculpture because I also thought it best captured the moments of intimacy and connection, I started off using clay in order to create this base for where both the faces would sit. The base being in the shape of a heart but then a swirly line in the middle of it helped to show the differences in the individuals and therefore showed how perfect the two of them are for each other and this ties in with the idea of being the perfect fit for each other like a puzzle piece.

 My final pieces effectively communicate my interest in romance. The two final artworks cohesively illustrate my love for romance and how two people can feel so connected just through body language or even looking at each other. Using my interests with light and shapes, both artworks have abstract shapes and feature this unrealistic look but real meaning behind them. The use of light and colours make the artworks more interesting to look at and through this we can see the realistic views of the artworks coming through. I believe that my final artworks are a sound realisation of my ideas. My work communicates the ideas of connection and intimacy through the use of light, shadows, and shapes. The use of light helps to create dimension especially in artwork 1 where the petals are all different shades. The calming colours and choice of tone, being very cool shows the relaxed setting and therefore creates this warm hearted and fuzzy feeling in the audience. In the second artwork, the clay uses texture and dimension as in the heart eyes and heart lips to complement each other in showing the ideas of touch and the power of it.

 The pieces I have created in my folio are linked through their communication of ideas, this is due to both the artworks showing two lovers (man and women) and their bond between them. The materials applied in Artwork 1 are essentially a phone, wire, and a light source to create shadows, the techniques used were then to capture precise and good quality photos of these shadows so that there are distinguished lines that reveal an image. In the second artwork, the main materials applied were clay and using sculpting tools this helped to bring on a human look to the people’s faces.

 Aesthetically, I want my work to convey a sense of love and compassion for the viewer. Through the use of line and light I was able to create a image with the help of shadows to show the audience the connection between two lovers and the focal point being their lips intertwined; kissing. In the second artwork, aesthetically I want my work to convey the sense of belonging and feeling wanted and being emotionally attached to your significant other. Through the use of focal point, being heart eyes and heart lips, this represents the idea of love and the compassion one can have for another. I decided to present my finished works as a clay sculpture sat on a 45-degree angle facing the audience and my shadow imagery as a large picture hanging. I did not frame both of the artworks except for the shadow imagery where the frame is included in the picture because I don’t believe there really needs to be any framing.